Annual women’s march returns globally

BY SOPHIA WENGIER

On January 20 and 21, millions of people worldwide took to the streets to advocate for human rights and protest the Trump administration in the second annual Women’s March.

One year ago, men and women flooded cities all over the United States to protest President Donald Trump’s inauguration in the largest single day demonstration in American history. This inspired sister marches around the world, making the Women’s March a global movement.

This year, the anniversary marches were fueled by renewed purposes: celebrating the achievements from this past year, encouraging voting in the midterm elections and promising a continued resistance in 2018. The #MeToo movement has also inspired even more people to demand deep social change and attend the march. Two types of anniversary marches took place, one on a global scale and one on a national scale.

“I feel differently about it this year,” healthcare communications worker Ann Dee Allen said. “Last year, I just felt kind of angry and impassioned. This year, I feel like I’m in it for the long haul.”

The “Look Back, March Forward” event took place in over 600 cities around the world to pledge resistance and direct action in order to achieve the liberation of all people. Throughout this past year, a network has formed between countries all over the world which now organize protests and campaigns, such as “Look Back, March Forward” and the global “16 Days of Activism” campaign to end slavery in Libya. The brief government shutdown also contributed to the march, as “Who’s shutdown? Trump’s shutdown,” became a popular chant for goers.

Several speakers around the country, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senator Kirstin Gillibrand, urged higher political participation by running for office and voting. At the Women’s March in Rome, Asia Argento (one of the first women to speak up about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault) received a huge welcome from other protestors before making her speech against sexual violence and abuse of power.

“I feel differently about it this year,” healthcare communications worker Ann Dee Allen said. “Last year, I just felt kind of angry and impassioned. This year, I feel like I’m in it for the long haul.”

The “Power to the Polls” march mainly took place in swing states as a national voter registration tour. This event was meant to channel the energy of the march into tangible steps forward in the movement by creating more participation in the upcoming midterm elections. By achieving increased voter registration, the movement advocates for legislation and candidates that reflect the progressive values of the protest in order to create change for marginalized communities.

The march has produced an intersectional platform to wage for the end of violence against women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigration rights, environmental justice and other minority groups.

This march is a global movement that exists to dismantle oppressive systems through protest and nonviolent resistance in order to achieve equality for marginalized groups. As the years pass by, the movement seems to be gaining momentum, reaching more audiences to create deep change in American society, government and the world at large.

“The Women’s March was one of the most empowering events I’ve ever participated in,” junior Julia Oldershaw said. “To see everyone gather and collectively use their voices in order to inspire change gives me hope. It shows that we the people do have a voice and that we can be heard and we can cause change in many ways.”

Photo courtesy of Sloopin.com